Disqus - Latest Comments for rogerben

Re: Simogo Is the Latest Developer to Pull out of Mobile, Continuing a Worrying Trend of Top Talent Abandoning the Platform

rogerben — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 18:36:25 -0000

I wish Simogo well, but I’ll be thankful not to hear about them for a long, long time.

Re: Subscription Based Pricing is not the Answer

rogerben — Fri, 12 May 2017 16:28:36 -0000

I'm going to begin from the assumption that doing traditional, in-place upgrades are a technical non-starter on the App Store, and that getting Apple on board with a business model they don't love is best done by following the path of least resistance. So...

I would hope for a thrice-yearly upgrade offer as Dan has described. (Or a variation where upgrade offers are combined with review requests in the same popup, so we're not effectively doubling up on already intrusive App Store-related interactions.) Tapping the upgrade button then sends me to a plain ol' App Store bundle containing the user's existing version of the app and the latest at a discounted price, perhaps with a nice description detailing the differences between old and current versions.

Subscriptions are problematic because most developers don't have the resources to provide the constant stream of substantive updates that a subscription implies, and even if they can manage the workflow, they're effectively incentivized into shipping quickly rather than thoughtfully. (It's easier to placate expectant subscribers with an early implementation of a feature than to make them wait past their renewal date for something fine-tuned.)

Re: Yes Dave, I remember when JFK died

rogerben — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 12:37:45 -0000

I think his point was that 60 Minutes (and CBS itself) stopped being a legitimate news resource many years ago, and the only people who still pay attention to it are those for whom the show has become the journalistic equivalent of comfort food.

That's a judgement that includes age as a component, but I don't think it makes the leap to ageism.

Re: Breaking Bad has gone off the rails

rogerben — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 17:08:24 -0000

I disagree on several points, but I'll stick to Jesse and Walt right now.

Jesse has been a rubber band threatening to snap (in show time) for months... Walt took an emotionally stunted, drug-addled young man and relentlessly screwed with his mind for a year. Like an abusive father, Walt inflicts pain and then convinces his victim that it was all in the victim's best interests, or worse, the victim's fault. The kind of anger generated by that dynamic shouldn't be underestimated, and when he finally releases that anger, Jesse lashes out in a predictably passive-aggressive, Jesse-ish way.

As for Walt hugging him... makes sense to me. I read it two different ways, depending on whether or not you believe Walt was actually sending Jesse to Alaska. If the new identity was real, then Walt was trying to give Jesse some closure without ever actually admitting fault, which is the same kind of thing he does to Skyler all the time. OTOH, if that minivan was actually taking Jesse to a hole in the desert, then Walt was having his own Michael Corelone & Fredo moment, just the kind of dramatic self-indulgence ("I am the one who knocks!", "...tread lightly.") that he craves when he's in full Heisenberg Mode.

Re: Scripting News: Washington is crazy

rogerben — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:12:46 -0000

Dave, dude... that is seriously the best Big Picture overview of the situation I have seen anywhere.

Re: Scripting News: Deadness

rogerben — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:30:33 -0000

Looking at the 'stache and open shirt from that speaking photo, I can only assume that you were living a lucrative double-life as a porn star in your thirties. Which means you may now be in the running for Most Interesting Man In The World.

Re: Scripting News: New camera, new eyes

rogerben — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:11:45 -0000

Dave: Is that a 5DMkII? 'Cause if so, that's a powerhouse for video as well as stills... they shot an episode of House entirely on a few 5DMkIIs, and tons of indie films are being shot with them all the time.

Re: Scripting News: Net neutrality is hypocrisy

rogerben — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 13:16:00 -0000

I like being able to write this: I agree with you 100%, Dave.

Re: Scripting News: Web server nerdvana

rogerben — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 17:14:53 -0000

I dunno, Dave... most things are improved by the inclusion of female gymnasts. Except Bond movies. And clowns. You can't improve clowns.

Re: Scripting News: I'd love to buy a podcast player

rogerben — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:09:45 -0000

Well, I don't care for the latest Nano myself... it's more interesting as a wristwatch than as a dedicated music device.

So I wasn't advocating an iPod here. I had my consumer advocacy hat on this time. :D

Re: Scripting News: I'd love to buy a podcast player

rogerben — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:38:59 -0000

"The Nano is too expensive for me to try out to see if it works the way I
want it too."

That's where loyalty/reward programs come in handy. For example, Best Buy's gives me an extended return window... I had a full month to try out my first Mac a few months ago, which gave me lots of time to see if I was going to be able to make the transition comfortably. It's amazing how much easier it is to make clear-headed decisions about products when you don't feel like you're in a race to identify every strength and weakness within a seven day period.

Of course, that doesn't help if you're one of those people who hates the act of returning things. My dad simply won't do it, ever. He'll actually pay someone to return things for him, losing money in the process.

Re: Scripting News: My airy book

rogerben — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:43:36 -0000

Dave: Name it "Larry". Then you can name the next two Airs you buy down the road "Darrel" and "Its Other Brother, Darrel".

Re: Scripting News: A tale of two phones

rogerben — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 23:59:26 -0000

You're not alone. I will never stop being annoyed by the fact that the single most satisfying computing environment I've ever used (iOS) is tied to the worst piece of mainstream software ever made without the word "McAfee" in the name (iTunes).

Re: Scripting News: A tale of two phones

rogerben — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:34:27 -0000

Dave: I understand your frustration with the failed upgrade, but two things:

(1) Firmware upgrade snafus happen sometimes, unfortunately, but it's almost certainly not bricked. If you're inclined to bother, you can probably download the appropriate firmware manually, put the phone into DFU mode, and get it running.

(2) The problem here isn't wiping the phone... it's with a major firmware upgrade. If you'd tried the latter with the Nexus One, you might have a similar problem. The way you wipe an iPhone is to go into Settings > General > Reset. No restore necessary.

Re: New Apple TV Extends Fragmentation, Cupertino Style

rogerben — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 05:16:11 -0000

I'm hitting the hay here, but I just wanted to quickly note that I was teasing about the traffic thing.

Re: New Apple TV Extends Fragmentation, Cupertino Style

rogerben — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 03:30:43 -0000

Louis: Seriously? You're seriously gonna call it "a drag" and an example of "fragmentation" that the copy of Starcraft I buy for the Mac won't run on my iPhone?

And seriously? You're gonna complain that you might (emphasis on "might", given how common universal apps are in the store) be forced to buy an app a second time when it has been redesigned for a very different form-factor? Despite the fact that, prior to iOS, the standard expectation for commercial software was that you would re-buy identical, unchanged apps for every individual user or machine in your home?

Oh, you aren't serious? You're just throwing some bait out there to stoke the traffic fires? Well played, Gray... well played. :D

Re: Scripting News: Why use RSS?

rogerben — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:06:49 -0000

I would disagree, but I guess when you take into account the problems solved + the problems created, you may actually end up with a zero result. :D

Re: Scripting News: Rebooting RSS, interlude

rogerben — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:42:30 -0000

Dave: Now I get it. This isn't a reboot of RSS... this is RSS4P. RSS For People. A fork of the ecosystem designed, not to distribute content, but to distribute self. Canonical self.

Regular ol' RSS and the existing mechanisms will still be appropriate for websites, publications, and so on. But this is no longer about sites... it's about individuals. I've got blogs and content all over the place, available in probably hundreds of different feeds, but even if I blended them all together in to one, I might not be comfortable calling the result The Authoritative Me. That would be The Entire Me, which is interesting on it's own, but not the same thing.

Re: Scripting News: Apple's change

rogerben — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:48:19 -0000

Dave: Beware the as-yet-unrevealed App Store approval process... no telling what gotchas are going to be inserted on that end of the pipeline. Are you going to try to be a first-mover and test the waters for everyone else, or are you going to sit back and see what happens?

FWIW, my guess is that this is prelude to the end of the Flash Wars. Apple just opened the door to a video-only version of the Flash player, which would silence the vast majority of complaints and kill the competitive marketing advantage.

Re: Scripting News: Apple is green

rogerben — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:53:41 -0000

Countdown until Jobs gives an interview referring to Ping as "a hobby" starts... now.

Re: Scripting News: Twitter + OAuth update

rogerben — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:11:25 -0000

Sorry I pushed your button there... I know you get a lot of heat over Apple stuff. It just struck me as funny that your complaint about jumping through hoops for Twitter reads so much like Jobs' anti-Flash manifesto.

I wonder if there's ever a point in life when shooting at a moving target feels like fun? Romance, maybe?

Re: Scripting News: Twitter + OAuth update

rogerben — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:29:15 -0000

...and now you know how Apple feels about Flash. :D

Re: Scripting News: There will be breakage

rogerben — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:18:56 -0000

The Unbearable Lightness of Quitting

Re: Scripting News: A compromise re fat tweets?

rogerben — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:40:49 -0000

Dave: I agree that compromise is the best route. The ideal path is for Twitter to add "live import" support for Twitlonger, by which I mean a bit of Javascript slipped into the timeline page that pulls in TL content when clicked. That yields positives for everyone, and no negatives:

(1) Twitter doesn't need to risk messing with the core infrastructure.

(2) Clients don't need to be rewritten... most of them support Twitlonger at this point, and already do the "live import" thing.

(3) 140 character "purity" is maintained for the bulk of users, since the web UI and SMS would still have the 140 limit.

IOW, nothing changes except a few hundred bytes of Javascript, and Fat Tweeting is available to anyone who really needs it.

Re: Scripting News: Apple's Flash policy is a breach of Postel's Law

rogerben — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:39:12 -0000

I think we're following different people, 'cause I see Arrington, the mainstream press, a bunch of random market researchers, Android fans, and so on pointing out Apple's (real and perceived) fuck-ups on a regular basis. And let's not forget your own sobering experience with the Apple Store hard drive swap. I've read all of that, and the only really Up With Apple stuff I'm seeing is coming from places like Daring Fireball.

The problem --as I see it-- is that you can't talk happy people into being unhappy. (Not easily, anyway.) And people are overwhelmingly happy with their iPhones and Macs. I've only owned a Mac for a month, and I haven't had this much fun with an OS since the Amiga, while my iPad is a constant companion. When I'm having so much fun, it's tough for me to generate outrage at the company who is helping me have that fun.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has never provided me with a fun experience in an OS or non-game app. In fact, outside of Win95, Win7, and Office 2000, they've actively disappointed me every time. So it's been easier for me to jump on their mistakes, although I like to think I actively applaud their rare wins. (Win7 really IS a fantastic update, I bought Windows CE handheld when everyone else was using Palm, and so on.)

And in fairness, when I really think Apple is lacking in a place where they should be leading, I'm gonna complain loudly. Take one of my pet complaints: lack of OS-level resolution independent UIs. Apple and Microsoft have both failed to deliver on this, and it makes life for people with visual disabilities a LOT tougher. But I hold it against Apple more than Microsoft, just because UI design is their "thing".